3 rising startups in India – July 22, 2016

Photo credit: David K.

A bargain hotel chain gains funding just in time for the weekend, while a property rental site follows suit. Meanwhile, an app that lets you watch commercials for a chance to win prizes rounds out our list of funded startups in India today.

Treebo Hotels

Photo credit: Pixabay.

If the upcoming weekend was bringing to mind thoughts of travel and you’d like to save some cash as well, cheer up, because tech-enabled chain of budget hotels Treebo Hotels has just bagged close to US$16.7 million in series B funding in a round led by Bertelsmann India Investments (BII). Existing investors SAIF Partners and Matrix Partners India also participated.

BII is the investment arm of international media company Bertelsmann and focuses on series B and C stage investments in the digital, education, media, and services sectors.

The funding will go toward expansion, strengthening marketing outreach, and improving its tech leadership.

Founded last year by Sidharth Gupta, Rahul Chaudhary, and Kadam Jeet Jain, Treebo currently sports 125 hotels in 25 cities across India, and it aids its partner properties in service management. The chain’s prices range from US$15 to US$45 per night, and it recently launched a tablet app called Bumblebee to help hotels manage their day to day operations.

Treebo closed its first round of venture capital funding last year and competes with Oyo Rooms and Stayzilla.

See: 12 years and 12k hotels: an Indian hospitality startup reveals secrets to sticking around

SimplyMoveIn

Photo credit: Pixabay.

Two days after the announcement that Hong Kong-based Swastika Company had funded online used book marketplace AbeRuk, the firm has come up in our list again. Online house rental marketplace SimplyMoveIn has raised an undisclosed amount of angel funding from the company.

The funding will be used for hiring, marketing, improving SimplyMoveIn’s technology, and geographical expansion.

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